if you step one last time (come towards me)
by FlickingCandle
Summary: AU! In which Pixal doesn't get scrapped, but Zane does. But both of their neural drives can be inputted into each other- they're compatible, after all. After Jay's editing, the two become a hurricane of ice and metal in no time at all, and they enter the tournament with a bang. BEING REWRITTEN
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Wahhhh... You guys make my day. Thank you for all the support, on my other Ninjago work, I really appreciate it. I'm incredibly happy to see you enjoy my writing **.** But here's a new Pixane story for you all, in my AU.

Rough AU Description: Zane does get scrapped, but Pixal doesn't. And Chen only got the powers that flowed through Zane's body, not the source of it. Pixal takes the other half and combines it with the half already in her body, which renews the ice powers. But that's not all- Zane's neural drive has a spot right in the center of their new power source. Pixal has better repair tools than Zane, and they break out. Takes place in Season Four, when the ninja are walking around looking for Zane.

Oh yeah, and I am firm in my belief that the android couple we all know and love are tiny. Pixal is like 4'9, Zane is 5'4.

-Chapter One: beneath the sky (there's us, passing by)-

Pixal jolted out of offline mode, the memory of recent events flooding her mind. But first and foremost- Zane was alive. He was there with her. He was different, but he as there.

"Zane?" She whispered, remembering their being captured. She couldn't quite make out where they were in the dark, but there were no chains around her wrists. Either their captors were incredibly foolish, or they simply did not expect her to have the proper tools to escape from the room, which, as her newly activated night-vision determined, was a cell with a locked door. Crossed iron bars on the left wall. She could easily slice through with her repair tools.

"I'm here, Pixal." Zane's voice carried through the bars with a little blue glow coming from his cell. His voice was metallic and sounding quite worried, but that was to be expected. They had been captured, after all. Pixal silently marveled at the fact that his emotions leaked into through his voice, and sounded like he was even trying to surpass them. Most androids could make their voices sound monotone and control every aspect of their voicebox, but Zane didn't. He had such real emotions, so much unlike other androids.

Pixal had already began to work on the bars, her tools fairly silent. She possessed innovative tools and weapons that even the upgraded Zane didn't have, as he had built his body with only the barest of upgrades and tweaks from his original one. However, he still possessed the other half of the power source. She had managed to find it among the frozen wasteland that was New Ninjago City, miraculously unharmed, though it had seemingly exploded when Zane destroyed the Overlord. But it must have been simply the body that exploded, for the glowing half-disk was without a scratch. She had preformed an experiment of her own on the other half- hers- and it revealed that it was made of a nearly indestructible crystal made even more powerful with the massive elemental reactor levels it contained.

Even herself, with just the half of the disk, had the barest of elemental powers. She suspected that with the other half, she would have incredible power. But it must've had something to do with the compatibility of the amazing device with Zane's design, for they possessed nearly the exact same amount of the divided disk, but he had so much more power than her.

"I'm going to break through these bars," Pixal replied, tools almost halfway through. She decided to use an expression neither of them understood very well, but Kai had once said it in both of their presences, so they were a little familiar with it. "hang tight."

"...I will." Pixal grew worried at the solemn tone, and the pause that preceded it. But she continued her task, small body crouched in the window, a shower of sparks blocking her view of what lay beyond.

The bars fell away, and she gasped at the sight when the shower of sparks stopped.

Zane was disassembled, and she felt the elemental power source inside her pause for a beat as she fought the overwhelming urge to scream for help, scream for anyone anywhere to help her Nindroid, help her _love_.

Wires strewn everywhere sparked at occasions, and shiny new plating was dented and cast around carelessly. The work of a disinterested grunt. A single blue eye was glowing near her foot with intense brightness that affected her own eyes not.

"...no...!" She whispered, but her voice cracked, a new experience. But she didn't bother to take further notice of the action, though alien. For the moment, it didn't matter. Nothing else mattered but the pulsing screen in the rightmost side of the room, with Zane's neural hard drive plugged in. Ancient technology, in comparison to the device designed by Doctor Julien that it held.

" _Pixal_ ," Zane's voice breathed from the screen, his image flickering upon it. She felt intense anger, but not at Zane. At whomever captured them. At whomever did this.

It was new, the powerful anger. She had felt incredible sadness before when Zane had sacrificed himself, and overwhelming relief when he returned like he had promised to. But never anger. Not to this caliber.

Zane made her feel new things, but that wasn't the reason she loved him. She loved him for Zane. She loved him for his innocent questions, his loving icy-blue eyes wide with curiosity and care. Pixal loved everything about him.

And she would always love him.

It didn't matter if he wasn't in his own body, they would always be together. Zane had promised he would return. Now Pixal would make a promise of her own, one she intended to keep until they both fell- in their shared body.

"Zane, I love you." Her hand reached toward the neural drive without hesitation, and plucked it from the computer seamlessly. The simulation of him on the screen was calm as it flickered out, trusting of her every action. With her other hand, she picked up the glowing disk balanced precariously atop the computer, and placed it into her chest, now open, to fit with the other half.

Pixal paused for a second after the quick actions to hope, and then placed Zane"s neural drive into the port in her chest alongside the glowing power source.

"Pixal," he breathed, a side program appearing in the side of her vision. "you're amazing." She smiled, relieved, and the intense anger washed away as she saw Zane appear.

"And we are compatible." The android closed her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she was not forced to abandon Zane. They would be together, no matter in which body- or even if they had separate bodies. From the moment they had first completed Spinjitsu together, they knew that they were two separate beings, but two beings that needed each other. They shared the same power source, and now the same body.

It made no difference whether they shared a body, for they had belonged together from the moment Zane had given her his power source.

"Yes, we are."

Pixal had slipped through the window again not a minute before pain enveloped her body. It was odd, a new sensation she did not quite appreciate. But Zane could feel it too, a little bit, and that's what made it bearable. They talked amidst the pain, quiet and civilized. It appeared that she was talking to herself, but Zane was on the other end of the conversation.

"Pixal, your elemental reactor levels are rising!" When Zane said this, she was hardly surprised. The other half of the power source had been reunited with her half, and now the energy was adapting to her body, which caused the pain.

" _Our_ elemental reactor levels are rising," she said with a little smile. A self diagnosis affirmed his words, though she had already believed them the moment they'd come from his mouth.

"...if you'd like to say so." Zane said shyly, a little blue blush coming to his cheeks on the side program.

"We share the same body now, there's no reason not to." She rather enjoyed this, having Zane right there to talk to. It was nice. They sat there against the wall in silence, simply enjoying the company of each other.

The pain was slowly decreasing, until it had disappeared completely.

"Pixal, if you wouldn't mind, may you let me take over? I want to see if we've gained the elemental powers of my previous body." She obliged, reducing her own concours to a side program which took Zane's place. He moved his limbs, which had a lot less mass than he was used to, but it was fine. He adapted quickly, and managed to call some power that glowed blue to his hand. "We have it."

"Amazing," Pixal marveled at the strange feeling of ice elemental power in her hand. They definitely had power, as Zane managed to create a miniature blizzard in his hands.

Zane crept over to the lock, and peered inside it with green eyes. "I've got it. I'll make a key with our power." Pixal fought a smile at the usage of our, before remembering that it was no longer unnatural to exhibit emotions. Often, she saw the emotionless husks that used the be the minions of the Overlord- Cryptor's army- and wondered if it was strange that she had such emotion. So she hid it when in front of big crowds, worried that it would unnerve them.

But Zane didn't care. All he said was- "I like your smile," which made her metal face flush emerald green.

"Thank you. Yours as well." His green eyes widened a little, before realizing that he had been smiling. His (and her own as well- for they shared a body now) face flushed green, which Pixal thought was a strange design choice for her creator to make for their blushing. But it had the same effect, showing both innocent embarrassment and pleasure at the compliment. Neither of them were used to compliments, and became quite flustered when receiving one.

The ice key was done, and Zane used it to unlock the door, which loudly creaked open. Many guards heads whipped in their direction from beyond the door- curiously, none were stationed right outside of it, their captor was a dimwitted fellow after all- but none were able to react as a metal leg slammed into the face of one and ice blasted the rest in quick succession, leaving them frozen but melting.

"Let's go." Zane said, already stealthily creeping along the wall, eyes darting every which way in search of an exit or more guards. Neither of which he found.

"I wouldn't leave even if I had a choice."

They had been walking along the side of the wall for hours, freezing a few guards in the process. But very few. It seemed that most of them were probably off doing something else, or their captor was even stupider than they already thought, hiring only a few guards to protect captured, trained _ninja_. As Pixal and Zane had agreed on a few minutes ago, they wouldn't put it past them.

A new voice rang from a path behind them, where they'd just frozen a line of guards. "Ice? It has to be Zane! He's alive!"

Zane's eyes grew wider, if possible, and he began running back, caring not for any sort of stealth at this point. Metal steps echoed through the tunnels, and probably alerted nearby guards, but Zane didn't care. It was the voice of one of his brothers, the voice of Jay. He rounded the corner and saw the four people in the world he loved just as much as he did Pixal- Lloyd, Kai, Cole, and Jay.

"You guys!" Zane and Pixal screamed in tandem, though only one was actually heard by the other ninja. "You guys!"

Four loud gasps, and two feet that rushed forward to meet them. Jay- the first one to get over the shock. He stopped right in front of Zane's outstretched arms, but after an awkward pause he stepped forward and accepted the hug.

Zane was confused, before he realized that they were in Pixal's body, not his own. But it wasn't the time for explaining now, he was simply to relieved to see them.

"I missed you," he whimpered into the hug- Jay was much taller than him now, he realized. The ability to have his emotions leak through his voice was not lost despite the new body, as his voice was obviously choked and full of emotion. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Pixal? Where's Zane?" Jay was confused, but never turned down a hug. Especially from a friend.

"Right here." He replied, tightening the hug. He was incredibly short now, somewhere around 4'9. Even Jay was almost a foot taller than him. He was practically a child's height! But it was fine, just unfamiliar. It was unusual having to crane his neck upward to look at his brothers, but it was ok.

Jay got the message immediately, while the other ninja still were dumbfounded. "Wow..." He whispered, electrical blue eyes wide. "Wow."

Pixal laughed at his response, though she couldn't quite see his surprised face. Zane had buried his face deep in the blue fabric of his friend's gi, sniffling. That reaction also took a part in her laughter.

"Oh, Zane, don't cry!" Cole had apparently broken out of his trace to realize that Pixal and Zane were now in the same body, if nothing else. Zane broke the embrace to dive into the hug of his other friend, who now towered over him by at least a foot. Pixal was about to calculate the exact height difference, but decided that it might be best to forget about it for a second. Zane was already overwhelmed as it was. He was simply so relieved to see his brothers safe. He had no indication that they were even alive before that! If he was captured, they might've been in danger as well.

"ZANE?!" Lloyd and Kai screeched in unison, further alerting any more guards in the nearest vicinity that weren't already aware that the ninja were doing ninja stuff. "That's Zane?" They chorused in unison. It truly was made obvious their shock when neither of them jinxed each other.

"Yes." Pixal took the liberty of replying to the question, as Zane was rather occupied with hugging the earth and lightning elements out of his two brothers, who were patting him on the back with the hand that wasn't hugging the short android. "Me and Zane now share a body. Right now all I am controlling is the voicebox. While Zane is hugging the life out of your brothers." The two looked startled, but joined the hug regardless.

There were some quick footsteps, from around the corner, but Pixal took care of them by raising an arm out of the hug that preoccupied Zane to freeze the two guards. The rest of the ninja hardly realized, as they were too busy mocking Zane's height. Zane didn't care all that much, but put on a petty front to entertain his brothers.

"I'm not that short!" He whined, then giggled. It was odd to the ninja to hear Pixal's voice, knowing it was Zane talking, but they didn't care. Cole pretended to be a looming giant over Jay and Zane while Kai snickered. Lloyd, however, was checking around the corners for more guards. When he saw some heading their direction, he pushed them all into a small room in the side- likely an armory for the guards. Strange, sharp swords lined the walls neatly, but they looked unused. Shields covered in thick leather were propped up in a row against red armor.

They all immediately realized the purpose behind the action and hid, though close to the entrance, so they could ambush the row of guards.

"Go!" Lloyd whispered, and they popped out from their hiding places as the last man went past the door. Cole popped him in the side of the head, and before he hit the floor the rest of them were incapacitated- Kai and Lloyd having beat up their own chosen targets, Jay and Zane using their powers to respectively shock and freeze two more guards.

It all happened in a second.

Pixal remarked, "Whomever hired these men is stupid." A blunt statement that revived a smirk from Zane.

"Agreed, Pixal." Cole's eyes widened a little more as he realized who Zane was talking to.

"Pixal? You've got a girl stuck in your head?" Zane pondered it for a second before shrugging.

"We share the same head, now. Though not the same mind." Cole seemed satisfied with the answer, if not a bit confused. But the ninja had learned to never ask Zane what he meant exactly, for it usually led to math, detailed explanation of many words, and occasionally getting burned by the ninja of ice. For a Nindroid, he was surprisingly sassy.

"What's that sound?" Lloyd asked. It was of beating drums and chanting, far away.

"Chanting and drums." Pixal confirmed for Zane to relay to the team. He did, while already removing an animal skull off of one of the guards.

"Pixal says chanting and drums. Let's sneak in!"

Zane sounded much too excited. But nobody blamed him. It had been months of waiting, bored, as his body was assembled. Then some weeks spent in a basement guarded by weird guys in animal skulls. But now he was back in action.

"Sure, Pixal-Zane. Oh! Let's call you Pixane!" Jay remarked, but Zane shrugged.

"We'll figure out names later, okay?" Kai said, following Zane's lead and stripping the armor off one guard.

"Fine. But I have some great ideas!" The next few minutes were spent in near-silence as they took the armor and animal skulls off of the unconscious men.

Before Lloyd broke it. "I actually have some too."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: a minefield of stars (exploding at every touch)

 **A/N: Alternate Description: Zane dances and smiles and falls flat on his metal face. And what's with the name Spybot?**

 **I have no clue if 'The Clockwork Dance' is actually a book, so I'm a lil afraid about copyright, but if it isn't I'm writing it.**

 **I'm not sure what to call Zane. He's a female body, though I'm not sure robots have set genders, and it's getting really confusing. That's really one of the only reasons that this chapter was delayed- I was struggling with pronouns. For now, I suppose I'll just call him male? The laws of gender are different with robots, I presume. And the ninja call him male, though later on they'll sometimes let it slip their minds the gender they first knew him as and just call him female. He really doesn't care.**

 **I'm so confused and I hope I didn't offend anyone I'm so sorry also I spent 30 hours in a car so I'm dead to the world sorry**

Description: _Pixal's bright green eyes faded into an icy, beautiful blue speckled with cerulean dashes. Then Pixal/Zane spoke shyly, "so you can tell us apart," the consciousness now properly identified as Zane shifted in their seat. "green for Pixal, blue for me, Zane."_

The walk in search of the chanting was generally quiet, aside from the little bits of chatter the ninja occasionally tossed around, most of it revolving around bad puns and Zane.

They'd looted the armor from the oddly dressed guards, and though they'd all been a little reluctant to take the weird skulls atop their own heads, Lloyd and Zane had worked together to convince the other ninja that this was a key part of their disguise. After all, was easy to tell if someone didn't have a massive skull on their heads compared to someone who did.

Other than Zane, the other ninja were deep in thought, which mostly revolved around the Nindroid and their body-share. Though it seemed that Pixal and Zane had already come to terms with their situation, and were happily whispering back and forth. The only loud noise in their conversation was an outbreak of laughter, seemingly from both ends. Zane's voice was a little bit deeper than Pixal's, but it still sounded like the android was talking to herself.

Cole and Lloyd were wondering how the situation would effect the team. The fact that their missing member was back would probably bring it back together, if the events that had transpired so far hadn't already. While Kai and Jay were giddier than wee-children discovering balloons for the first time.

For Kai, it was like something straight out of a movie! It was just so cool in a sense he couldn't explain without sounding straight up insane.

But Jay was ecstatic for other reasons. For one, Zane had asked him to modify her and Pixal's shared body. He was modifying Zane! Actually doing it! Before, Zane had never allowed Jay to tinker with his original design- he held too much love for his father's creation to let that happen. But this was different- as long as he didn't mess with the power source or go completely nuts, he would do whatever to the design with Zane's permission.

There was so much potential here. So much. Jay was creating a robot ninja. Actually doing it. Taking Pixal's body and turning it into a miniature fighting machine.

Speaking of Pixal's body, that was the second reason he was over the moon about Zane's request. Cyrus Borg was a genius. An absolute genius who'd managed to create Pixal, a miracle of machinery. She had free will, emotions of her own. Almost just like Zane, though he was better. But genius of her consciousness was surpassed by many things- most of them in Zane's old body, admittedly- and one of them was her design.

Pixal was incredibly agile, with a small frame that allowed for very swift movement. She had been built originally to assist a genius with technology that stretched the boundaries of most imaginations, and her design reflected that. She could speed around a laboratory all day, fetching wires, switches, and any other miscellaneous items that Cyrus Borg might've had a need for.

Perfect for a ninja.

And she had hidden compartments, too! Already there! Already installed! Pixal's cutting-edge repair tools had great potential as weapons- miniature diamond-tipped drills only being one among a variety of other tools. Maybe it was Jay's video-game accustomed mind at work, but Pixal could've probably been a ninja with or without upgrades.

So maybe he wouldn't touch most of her internal design, for now. But the repair tools he would take out. There was a hidden shuriken compartment with Zane's name on it.

But nobody said the tools would be lost, they would have a nice place in his toolbox.

Suddenly, a thought came to Jay's mind.

"P.X.Z," he blurted, mind going a mile a minute. "let's call you P.X.Z!" Jay exclaimed, steps quickening. The other ninja were snapped out of their own thoughts at this, minds already churning with ideas for Zane's new name, a topic they'd abandoned nearly half an hour ago when Cole had brought up Chen again.

"Spybot's a cool name," Kai remarked, getting two glares thrown at him by the Starfarer fans.

"Spybot was an awful character," Lloyd complained, hands on his hips. His pace had subconsciously quickened to match Jay's. Along with the other ninja.

"I like the name Glacier," Cole said, haphazardly throwing a name out on the chopping block for Jay and Kai to dissect. The two pulled two very different faces that both had the same core meaning- 'but why would you do that to poor Zane?' "What! So you'd like Spybot better?"

Kai nodded vigorously, and it was Cole's turn to pull a face.

"Why not Frostfire?" The Red Ninja asked, but was quickly shut down by a disgusted Lloyd.

"Because it's stupid!" He shrieked indignantly, as if Kai had punched his mother. "Why would you put frost and fire together, anyway?" The conversation soon dissolved into a loud argument between the Blue, Black, Red, and Green Ninja.

While the White Ninja was chatting happily to his lover, promising with wide eyes that he'd teach her to bake and cook, sometime. But the argument quickly disrupted the cheerful conversation.

"Enough!" Pixal yelled over the din, which effectively ended all arguments and turned all eyes toward the speaker.

Now that she held their attention, she let Zane take control again. Pixal's bright green eyes faded into an icy, beautiful blue speckled with cerulean dashes. Then Zane spoke shyly, "So you can tell us apart," the consciousness now properly identified shifted in his seat. "green for Pixal, blue for me, Zane." Zane said, blinking stunning icy eyes.

"Robots are cool." Kai whispered. Zane continued.

"I'd like to use Orianna as my alias. After Orianna Relane, the protagonist in one of my all-time favorite books." He said with a tiny smile on Pixal's face that still managed to be completely Zane. "'The Clockwork Dance,'" the Nindroid continued, dreamily. "a classic at it's finest. I recommend you read it."

The green eyes of Pixal reappeared, and the small smile fell off of her face as Pixal took control. "I have not read it myself, but Zane recommends it as well as many other online sites, with the minimum rating of four stars. It appears to be quite the novel."

Zane's blue eyes bled through and conquered green, and the small smile came back in full force. The Nindroid made an attempt to spin like a ballet dancer, an effort that was rewarded with the laughter of the other ninja, which confused Zane.

"It truly is quite the book." He said once more, before spinning again, this time on he tips of his toes. However, purely out of instinct, Zane's ballet attempt spun him into a partial Spinjitsu tornado and flew through the air, into the left wall. Where his metal body landed with a clang.

The other ninja rushed over, concerned. Pixal's bright green eyes reappeared on the dazed face. She spun accepted a hand and pulled herself up, before spinning once, twice, three times perfectly.

"Only one of us has internet access." The android said, with an unusually cocky smile. "Though only one of us has studied the theoretical literature." At this, shining green was replaced by icy blue.

"I apologize for the concern I may have caused," Zane said blankly, though with a concerned look on his face. "I only wished to test out the move I have heard so much about."

But the ninja only laughed, pausing their walk to revel in the completely _Zane_ moment.

"That's our Zane," said Cole, humor tingling his voice.

"Orianna for the moment, is it not?" Zane asked, and the level of innocence in his voice would've sounded suspicious if anyone else had said it. But it fit Zane perfectly well.

Definitely their Zane.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: *Flails uselessly in chair* I was typing this in Language Arts class. I had extra time on my hands, so why not? (So you can actually get some education, you git. And tunnels usually aren't this long.)

Shaddup, conscience.

-You Are Irreplaceable-

Zane was in the front, scanning the tunnels with Pixal. They'd already identified the location, but apparently, had to be more precise than the literal spot-on coordinates they'd supplied themselves. Their eyes flashed green, then blue, then green once more. They took control of the voice-box to talk to each other quietly as they completed the scan.

The ninja were observing their friend's face as the Nindroid and Pixal switched control. In one moment, Zane's gentle smile would be visible on his face. The next, it would belong to Pixal and the expression would change instantly, a different smile.

Once the scan was done, their friend turned to face them, walking backward. "My friends, is there something that troubles you?" The eyes were bright, icy blue once more, but the expression was more than enough to convince the ninja that this was indeed Zane. It was worry, in place of the usual cheery smile.

"No, no." Cole quickly replied, shaking his head. "We're fine. How are you?" The Black Ninja clearly didn't want Zane being distressed after his resurrection, something all of them would have to adjust to. Though Zane already seemed pretty fine with the new circumstances. The only thing that he really needed to get used to was the decreased body mass. The Nindroid had already stumbled quite a few times, and tripped many more. But he had adjusted much better than the rest of the ninja.

"I'm fine as well, thank you." Zane responded, before walking back to where his brothers were. Though he, in his new body with much shorter legs, had to walk quite a bit faster to keep up with his tall friends. It almost seemed like the Nindroid was running alongside his walking companions- sprinting, even. "What have you all been doing in my absence?"

The Ice Ninja's statement froze the rest of the ninja.

"Uh," Kai sputtered, him and the rest of the ninja team knowing that Zane would be quite unhappy with them quitting or dissolving into misery. Plus completely distressed.

"I trained and went on missions?" Cole lied warily. Zane stared up at him for one second, before moving his gaze to Jay.

"How about you, Jay?" He asked. Jay beamed at his friend, before bringing a lightshow to his fingertips.

"I started a show!" He bragged, the electricity dancing around his entire hand, now. "I flew! With ropes, but I flew!"

Zane turned his head to Lloyd, who was completely relaxed. For one, Zane was the worst at sniffing out lies. Two, Lloyd was actually the only one who did his job as a hero. He had nothing to fear. "I protected Ninjago, like usual." His addition to the sentence was directed at his fellow ninja, and quite clear in it's meaning. But Zane didn't catch it, thankfully.

"Kai?" Cole glared at Kai, the worst liar on the team, as if daring him to rat him out. "What have you been doing?" The Red Ninja- or Red Shogun- glanced around as if looking for another Kai.

"Uh," he stuttered, before a waterfall of words fell out of his mouth. "I-sort-of-stopped-being-a-ninja-and-went-to-an-illegal-fighting-ring-don't-get-mad-Cole-stopped-being-a-ninja-too," he muttered in one quick breath before Cole clasped his hand over the other ninja's mouth. Not quickly enough, though.

Zane blinked blue eyes once before frowning. "Losing me is not an excuse to quit the team, you two. I, after all, am only one fifth. I can be replaced." Kai and Cole looked moderately guilty, but a hard expression grew on their faces.

"That's not true, Zane." Lloyd reprimanded him. "You could never be replaced." Zane cocked his head, but when his eyes flashed green it straightened.

"Zane, you are special, and have been since the moment of your creation- both creations," Pixal soothed. It was a little odd witnessing the android pretty much talk to herself, but it was effective. "and you are special to us." Lloyd and Jay, fans of cheesy romance novels, grinned widely at this. The green of Pixal's eyes was replaced slowly by the familiar blue of Zane's, and the serene expression changed instantly to something more innocent and forlorn.

A beat passed in silence, save the quiet breaths of the ninja. Not even their footsteps resonated in the tunnels.

"I apologize." Zane said, hanging his head. Loose strands of synthetic hair that had broken free of the pony-tail fell over his face. "I did not realiz-"

Jay shushed him with a wide grin. "Of course. That's what makes you unique. There's only one Zane Julien."

The android was silent, before opening his mouth to speak. A question. "Zane… Julien?"

And the tunnels were quiet once more.

"What do you mean by that?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: waiting for the next dream

 **A/N:** IAMSOSORRY. THIS TOOK WAY LONGER THAN I THOUGHT, BECAUSE I COMPLETELY NEGLECTED IT. I HAD A FINISHED CHAPTER, BUT I WASNT SATISFIED WITH THAT, SO I DIDNT PUBLISH IT. THAT WAS ALL THE WAY BACK IN OCTOBER. HHHH

I think I'll rewrite the old chapters soon. Look out for that! I read back and realized that much of the dialogue feels awkward… I'm trying to improve on that.

(Also, this could come off as Glacier-y, you can interpret it as you'd like. :D)

Description: _Zane is currently out of order. You'll have to take it up with a furious Pixal._

"You don't remember? That's… That's your name." Jay's voice was hesitant.

Zane's gaze dropped to the floor.

"...what have I...?" The light blue in his eyes seemed to waver, and a pained expression consumed his face. On the ground, his silver feet, bare and full of scratches, had frost forming on them. Ever part of him trembled, from head to toe. "...I can't… I can't…"

There was an muffled click as Zane's legs collapsed out from beneath him. He fell straight to the ground with a horrible echoing clatter. The skull helmet, from where it had been tucked under the Nindroid's arm, crashed to the ground. Four others were carefully set down as the other ninja freed their hands. "...I can't…" he repeated, his face buried in his arms as he curled up against the wall. "I don't… know…"

Cole was the first one in action, kneeling down next to his friend. The Nindroid did not stir when Cole's hand took his own and drew him up to where his head was resting on the Earth Ninja's shoulder. Zane's knees were still on the ground, and they were iced over. The hands, face, and arms of the Nindroid that Cole could actually feel were cold as the his element.

"We'll help you remember." Cole whispered, The now-smaller ninja didn't stop shaking, even though it seemed like he hugged Cole harder. "After we get out of this place."

"...I don't… I…" Zane's voice broke as he tried to force the words out. "I…" the attempt became nothing but a muffled whimper.

"You don't have to talk." murmured Cole, before continuing with a gentle 'shh' sound that none of them had noticed him making before.

The Earth Ninja stood up carefully, lifting his friend along with him by settling him into a sort of bridal carry. The Nindroid's head lolled against Cole's shoulder, his eyes barely lit.

"Come on," he whispered to the rest of them. There were footsteps coming down the hall, making clicks. Unlike the dull thumps of the guards' shoes, they were sharp and fast. "Zane, are you okay? We're going to have to run."

"Clouse." hissed Kai. "Ugh, why don't we just knock him out?" A few sparks flew from his clenched fists as he prepared to do just what he said.

"I agree with Kai," Jay agreed, pulling out his nunchucks. But Lloyd shook his head.

"I'll bet that wherever the chanting is coming from, they're expecting Clouse back." Jay put his weapons back and pointed with his thumb behind him.

"Then lets book it!" They did so, taking off like bullets. They were streaks of color as they zipped down the hallways, all except for two- Cole, who had set Zane on the ground again and was trying to tug him along.

"Let's go Frosty! Clouse is coming this way!" The Earth Ninja urged. When Zane didn't move, seemingly frozen to the spot, the other ninja ran back quickly.

"We need to go." Lloyd insisted, his eyes flashing to the place where Clouse's footsteps were getting louder. Then-

"NINJA? HERE?" A shout came from the front of the tunnel, right where Lloyd had been looking. The small group heard the crackle as magic came to the sorcerer's hand, an orb that seemed to absorb the light in the already-dim tunnel. It grew for a second before it flew from Clouse's hand as a hail of dark bullets.

They headed for Kai, who readied his swords in defense, but it never made it there. In seconds, the fire ninja was out of the way. The orb of magic shot straight through the wall, creating a cloud of dust as the wall exploded.

A shock of green had burst through the scene, and metal feet had kicked against the swords, propelling Kai to the floor.

Kai's weapons had been used as a springboard to both get him out of danger, and to propel Pixal, now in control, right towards Clouse. The sorcerer tried to move in the last moment, but couldn't before Pixal's palms slammed into the center of his chest and encased him in a shell of ice.

She stood there for a few silent seconds, letting the ice spread into spikes. Her eyes flashed dangerously. Once Clouse toppled to the ground as a scary magic popsicle, she stepped away.

"...I believe that now is the time we should move." She said, voice as cold as the Clouse-sicle she had just made. "Apologies, that was the last resort." When she turned around, there was a pleasant smile on her face.

"Yeah."

In fear of the seemingly-cutthroat android, they moved on.

* * *

"We can't go to investigate the chanting. Lloyd is likely right, if some sort of ritual is going on, Clouse is probably the one behind it." Pixal's voice echoed through the tunnels as she jogged ahead of the ninja, trying to figure out the way back to Kai's room. "Am I correct in saying you left a trail?"

"Yep. Chocolate peas… Or something." Jay confirmed. Pixal hummed a tuneless song for a second, considering the routes.

"We must head this way." Pixal pointed down one of the tunnels, barely waiting for the ninja before she ran into it. "Quickly!"

They complied. "Why, Pix?" Lloyd asked, sprinting into the area. Pixal barely glanced back.

"That it because I did not wish to interfere with the physical contact Cole was giving Zane. Zane, when he gets into a saddened state such as this, has admitted to me that he likes to have physical contact." The other ninja, overhearing, gave her a questioning look, but didn't interrupt. "As we share a body at the moment, I cannot give him that physical contact. You ninja were the best choice for it."

"I don't think that's what Lloyd was asking, Pix." Kai said, slightly amused. The other ninja were catching up with the android. She glanced over and gave him a small smile.

"I am well aware, but I thought it vital that you should all know." She made another sharp turn, heels driving into the dirt as she skidded right. With a single shot of ice, the guard around the corner was frozen to the wall. "I do believe I'm getting better at this!"

Now the other ninja were heaving, trying to catch up with her. "Ugh," complained Jay, who had slowed down, clutching his side. "curse stamina-less Nindroids!" Hearing this, Pixal slowly jogged back to the colorful group.

"Are you including Zane and I in that 'cursed' category?" She questioned confusedly. The a Blue Ninja had a sheepish look.

"You two are really the only ones in the catagory at the moment, I think." Jay admitted.

Cutting in, Lloyd remarked, "Actually, while you guys were gone, Mr. Borg made the Nindroid army into security droids. But I'm not sure if they're good enough. If _one_ ninja is enough to defeat them, I don't think…" he paused to send a playful half-glare at his friends. "Yeah, if a _single_ ninja can defeat them, all on his _own_..."

Kai lightly punched him in the shoulder with a grin. "Can it, Green Bean. We're all back together now. No more complaining!"

Said 'Green Bean' looked up at Kai, smiling. "As long as we're all together, I'm not sure I can find any reason to."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: please stay in this happy moment

 **A/N:** Yeah, I'm really sorry. I have zero excuse. I just couldn't bring myself to do anything these past months, there's so much stuff going on and I can't function right now. I'm so sorry. I know that this is short and rushed like the other chapters, and I really wanted to fix that, but I want to get this out before quickly. There are a lot of complications right now, and they're not anything I really want to share here, but just know that I will finish everything up to the best of my ability.

 **Also, I drew up a new cover image!**

Description: "There are more ways to break a person than killing them, _Clouse._ I didn't make you my second-in-command for nothing!"

Once they'd reached Kai's room by hanging underneath the bed and flipping it over- which was not a good idea, and catapulted them all to various places in the Fire Suite- they heard a faint knock on a door.

"Master Chen orders all competitors to come to the arena." A kabuki servent spoke into the room next to Kai's, startling them all. "He will announce a change to the schedule."

In moments, the ninja had hidden all around Kai's room. Cole shoved himself underneath the bed. Jay was stuffed into a closet by Lloyd, who flung himself inside as well. Kai threw a blanket over Orianna, who was still sprawled on the floor, and sat down on the mysterious lump of comforter.

The woman walked to Kai's room and poked her painted face in. Trying to be inconspicuous, Kai kept switching around the pose he was in, trying to cover more and more of the Nindroid with every reconsidering of his pose.

"Master Chen…" The kabuki looked puzzled for only a moment, before letting out a little sigh. To her credit, she completed her job without even another moment's hesitation. "...orders all competitors to come to the arena. He will announce a change to the schedule." Then she walked out of the room.

Cole reappeared from underneath the bed, popping his head out. "Whatever they're paying her, it's not enough."

Jay and Lloyd stumbled out of the closet, faces shocked and angry. "Kai, you already burnt down part of your room?!" Jay cried out in disbelief. He put his hands on his friends' shoulders. "Stop it!"

Cole let out a sound of someone who was completely done with the fire ninja. "Let me see!" Kai shook out of Jay's grip and made a pitiful attempt to hold the earth ninja back.

"Dooonnnnn'tttttt…" he whined as he, only a less than average human, tried

to hold back a bulldozer. Cole broke free easily and strode into the closet, pushing the still-astonished Jay and Lloyd aside.

" _KAI!"_ Narrowed, dark brown eyes popped out of the wardrobe. "Did you _blow something up in here?_ "

"No!"

"Yes you _did_!"

" _So why ask?_ "

"Because you're a liar!"

"I wasn't trying to be!"

Their argument rose, getting louder and louder, until-

 _Crack. Crack._

Their mouths froze shut, and they turned to gape at Orianna, who was still underneath the blankets. A few metal joints and a palm poked out of the pile. Even from where they stood and where Orianna was buried, they could tell the Nindroid was done with their arguments already.

"Ori!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Hey!" For a moment, it seemed like Lloyd was about to reprimand the Nindroid, but he just sighed. "C'mon…"

He walked over to the pile and took the blanket off with a flourish. The Nindroid was face-down on the floor, hand still raised. A few paces away, Kai burnt his own mouth trying to get the ice off. Cole was ready to punch it off his own face.

Orianna stood up and after brushing off the dirty purple dress, turned to face the other ninja. Ice-blue eyes had appeared, and although they were still blinking a little too fast, Zane was obviously back and ready to go.

"My apologies," Zane said blankly, but he made no move to help remove the ice from his friends' obviously freezing mouths. "but I do believe we are _ninja_." There was a familiar sharpness in his words. It was somewhat comforting.

"Sure." Jay breezily agreed, smirking at Cole's frustrated attempts to remove the seal of ice from his face. The Black Ninja paused for a moment when he saw Jay's cockiness to scream from behind the gag at him. "Mmm… refrigerator-mouth says wha?" It only made Cole scream more.

Zane gave his friends a sheepish look. "Ah, that was Pixal…" He made an icicle and proceeded to use it as a lever, albeit fairly wet and slippery one. But it did the job, and soon the gag was off both of the others' faces. They started to frantically try to warm up their mouths.

Lloyd gave them exactly forty seconds, then shoved them both to the doors. Forceful push by forceful push, he moved almost every member of his rather confused ninja squad. Even though none of them really bothered to help him by moving by themselves.

"Where are we going?" Zane politely inquired while his metal heels dug into the floor, which was rather unhelpful of him, seeing as how Lloyd was trying to move him and Zane was completely capable of free movement. "Will it be exciting?"  
Lloyd paused to think, then spoke with a little bit of cheer. "Actually, Zane and Pixal, you two are going to stay here. We can't have Chen seeing his escapee android." He promptly let go of his hold, and Zane fell backwards into the carpet. His expression didn't change.

"Oh, okay." Zane was content with Lloyd's decision, even though green eyes flashed and fixed the face into a pout.


	6. AN

A/N:

Hello! I'd like to thank everyone for their support, I really, really appreciate it. It brings such a big smile to my face even if it's just a little five-word comment. It honestly does make my day.

Anyways, straight to the point! I've got some bad news, and some good!

I'm rewriting this entire story. It'll be available on the same day this posts on my account, under the title 'I'm Bleeding Blue (if it's all the same to you).

I know that I don't have a consistent update pattern, and I'm sorry about that. However, I will try and update the rewritten version every two weeks, on Friday. And I'll try to squeeze in a few chapters in between occasionally.

'I'm Bleeding Blue (if it's all the same to you)' will have a similar storyline, then it will diverge immensely from both the canon and what I had intended this story to have. It might be a lot darker, so that's a warning.

The reason behind this rewrite is because I've completely lost sight of where this story was going, and I also feel really bad that you had to wait so long between chapters on account of my own life issues.

I hope for your forgiveness and continued support for this series!


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